Bangladesh: Five of a family blow themselves up to prevent police from storming militant hideout

The suspected militants also speared a fireman.

Five members of a family blew themselves up in Bangladesh’s Rajshahi to prevent police from storming their house, suspected to be a militant hideout, The Dhaka Tribune reported. The five reportedly speared a fireman before blowing themselves up in the Godagari area of the district, the news report said. Two policemen have been injured.

Hibzur Alam Munshi, the in-charge at the Godagari police station, said law-enforcers had cordoned off the house in Benipur village since 3 am and had been asking the suspected militants to surrender. It was while emerging from the house that the five blew themselves up. They are: Sazzad, the owner of the house, his wife Beli, their sons Alamin, 30, and Soheb, 25, and daughter Karima, 18. A seven-year-old boy and a month-old baby were rescued from the house. Sazzad’s other daughter, Sumaiya, surrendered to police.

The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh has launched a crackdown on terror suspects, with the police headquarters circulating a list of nearly 5,000 suspected militants to all district police chiefs.